The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti yields a fascinating dataset. This combination demonstrates a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution and settings change, moving from a CPU-leaning scenario at 1080p to a GPU-bound situation at 4K. The measured frames per second (FPS) reveal a configurable experience, with the game’s "Medium" preset offering the most balanced performance across all tested resolutions, while "Ultra" settings prove particularly punishing for the GPU. The data indicates that this combo is a mid-pack performer relative to the broader database of tested configurations, with the processor’s older 14 nm architecture and the graphics card’s high-end capabilities creating an interesting dynamic for players prioritizing resolution over raw frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 dramatically reshapes the performance profile of this combo. At the "High" settings preset, the average FPS drops from 78 at 1080p to 66 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 12 frames, and then falls further to 52 at 4K. This scaling pattern suggests that while the GPU is becoming more stressed at higher resolutions, the initial step from 1080p to 1440p is not as severe as the subsequent jump to 4K, indicating that the graphics card retains significant headroom until the pixel count becomes extreme.

The "Low" settings preset tells a different story about the limiting component. Here, the average FPS moves from 106 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p, and finally to 93 at 4K. The relatively small performance delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings—a drop of only 13 frames—points directly to the CPU as the primary bottleneck. With graphical load minimized, the Intel Core i5-10400F’s six cores and twelve threads appear to be the ceiling, as the RTX 4070 Ti cannot fully stretch its legs even at lower resolutions.

Looking at the "Ultra" preset, the GPU bottleneck becomes undeniable. The average FPS plummets from 62 at 1080p to 52 at 1440p, and then to a mere 41 at 4K. This 21-frame difference between 1080p and 4K is the largest across all settings, demonstrating that the game’s maximum visual quality places an immense strain on the graphics card’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus. The scaling behavior here is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the 4070 Ti’s raw compute power is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at the highest fidelity.

The "Medium" preset offers the most consistent scaling, with average FPS of 89 at 1080p, 84 at 1440p, and 73 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is a notable 11 frames, but the minimum FPS figures for this preset (75 at 1080p, 71 at 1440p, and 62 at 4K) show that the experience remains playable even at the highest resolution. This suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, balancing the load between the CPU and GPU to avoid severe performance cliffs.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested CPU and GPU combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing achieves a rank of 952 out of 3724 total combos. This places the configuration in the upper quartile of tested systems, indicating that it delivers above-average performance for this title. However, the rank also reveals that there are numerous other combinations that outperform it, likely featuring newer processors with higher single-thread performance or more powerful graphics cards.

The combo’s rank is a product of its two components’ individual standings. The RTX 4070 Ti sits in the 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795, which is a strong position. In contrast, the Core i5-10400F is in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. The processor’s lower percentile ranking suggests that it is the weaker link in this pairing, which likely caps the system’s overall performance in The Medium, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU load is more significant.

The nearest rival CPUs to the i5-10400F in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon 6756E, with a delta of 0.2%, and the AMD EPYC 7552, with a delta of 0.5%, both of which score marginally higher. On the other side, the Intel Core 7 160UL and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C score slightly lower, with deltas of -0.3% and -0.6% respectively. These tiny percentage differences indicate that the i5-10400F is in a crowded performance tier, and the choice between these processors would likely have minimal impact on The Medium’s frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 10th Generation desktop processor built on the Comet Lake architecture, utilizing a 14 nm process node from Intel. It features six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. It connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is most evident at the "Low" settings preset across all resolutions. The average FPS figures of 106 at 1080p, 100 at 1440p, and 93 at 4K show a performance ceiling that is relatively flat, suggesting that the game’s logic and physics calculations are not scaling with resolution. The six cores and twelve threads are sufficient for the game’s multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283, but the single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 609, appears to be a limiting factor.

The processor’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz is the key to its single-threaded responsiveness, but the older Comet Lake architecture lags behind newer designs in instructions per clock. This is reflected in its benchmark scores, where the Geekbench single-core score of 1420 and Passmark single-thread score of 2541 indicate modest performance by modern standards. In The Medium, this translates to a situation where the CPU can handle the game’s demands, but it cannot push frame rates higher than the observed 106 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low, regardless of the GPU’s capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces a wide range of average FPS depending on the settings preset. The "Low" preset yields the highest average at 106 FPS, followed by "Medium" at 89 FPS, "High" at 78 FPS, and "Ultra" at 62 FPS. The "Medium" preset also records a minimum FPS of 75 and a maximum of 102, showing a playable range with some variance. The "Ultra" preset, while hitting 62 FPS on average, represents a significant drop from "High," indicating that the game’s most demanding visual features take a heavy toll on the GPU even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are lower across all presets. "Low" still leads with 100 FPS, but "Medium" drops to 84 FPS with a min/max range of 71 to 96. "High" averages 66 FPS, and "Ultra" falls to 52 FPS. The 1440p results show a noticeable step down from 1080p, particularly for "High" and "Ultra" presets, confirming that the RTX 4070 Ti is doing more work as the pixel count increases, but the CPU remains a factor at "Low" and "Medium."

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes heavily GPU-bound. The "Low" preset still manages an average of 93 FPS, which is impressive for 4K, but "Medium" drops to 73 FPS with a min/max of 62 to 83. "High" averages 52 FPS, and "Ultra" falls to 41 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a horror title that relies on atmosphere and timing. The 4K "Ultra" result of 41 FPS is the lowest recorded figure in the entire dataset, highlighting the extreme demands of the game’s maximum settings at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is a high-end graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores. The card has a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

The GPU’s dominance in this pairing is most apparent at the "Ultra" settings preset, where the average FPS drops from 62 at 1080p to 41 at 4K. This 34% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K is a clear sign that the card is being pushed to its limits. The 12 GB of VRAM is likely a factor, as The Medium’s "Ultra" preset probably taxes memory capacity, and the 192-bit bus width may struggle with the high bandwidth demands of 4K textures.

The RTX 4070 Ti’s benchmark scores reinforce its high-end status. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 176953, placing it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, which scores 45152 on average (a -0.8% delta), and the RTX A6000, which scores 44075 (a 1.6% delta). These comparisons show that the 4070 Ti is competitive with top-tier workstation and mobile parts, but its performance in The Medium is ultimately constrained by the game’s engine and the CPU’s ability to feed it data.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1440p?

A: The "Medium" preset offers the best balance, with an average FPS of 84, a minimum of 71, and a maximum of 96 at 2560x1440. This provides smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality, whereas "High" drops to 66 FPS and "Ultra" falls to 52 FPS.

Q: Does this CPU bottleneck the RTX 4070 Ti in The Medium?

A: Yes, the data indicates a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p with "Low" settings, the average FPS is 106, and it only drops to 93 at 4K, suggesting that the Intel Core i5-10400F’s six cores and twelve threads are the limiting factor, as the GPU’s performance scales poorly with resolution under these conditions.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti rank against other GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti is in the 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795. It is closely matched with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, which score 45152 and 45384 respectively, showing a delta of -0.8% and -1.3%.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 41, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the "Ultra" settings preset. This is a significant drop from the "High" preset at the same resolution, which averages 52 FPS.

Q: Is the Core i5-10400F a capable processor for this game?

A: The processor is in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. In the game, it sustains over 90 FPS at 4K with "Low" settings, proving it can handle the title, but its single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 688, limits maximum frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between "High" and "Ultra" settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the "High" preset averages 78 FPS, while the "Ultra" preset averages 62 FPS. This represents a 16 FPS drop, indicating that the "Ultra" preset’s additional graphical effects are particularly demanding on the RTX 4070 Ti.